DENVER — Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer and head coach Mike Shanahan used to have heated discussions on the sideline.
But that was 2006 when Plummer was in his 10th season and everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Shanahan replaced him with first-round rookie Jay Cutler.
For quarterback Bo Nix, a rookie playing in just his fifth NFL game, to get in Sean Payton’s face during an angry exchange Sunday in the Broncos’ convincing 34-18 win against the division-rival Raiders? That takes some spunk, and more than a pinch of audacity.
Then again, the cameras only caught Nix animatedly defending himself. It was Payton’s words that apparently struck the first blow.
“It’s part of the deal,’’ Payton said in his postgame press conference. “Listen, last year all the sudden I was the … “
He was about to go there with his angry rant at quarterback Russell Wilson during the Broncos’ blowout loss at Detroit last season. Only that was a one-side exchange. The ever-obedient Wilson stood there and took it.
Nix has shown early in his NFL career he’s not taking guff from anybody, whether it’s a gray-haired reporter who asks him about an interception, or a proven veteran head coach who apparently didn’t like the quarterback doing his own thing.
“There’s still a little bit Ferris Bueller in this player we got to get rid of,’’ Payton said. “All right? Talking about Bo. And I love him to death. Sometimes it’s my love language.”
What does he mean, Ferris Bueller?
“Oh, it’s just funny,’’ Payton said. “Ferris is kind of quirky, doing his own thing once in a while. Did you watch the movie (Ferris Bueller's Day Off)? You ever seen it?”
The question isn’t whether anyone has seen the Ferris Bueller movie starring Matthew Broderick. The question is how many times have you seen it?
“He’s still got a little Ferris Bueller in him,’’ Payton said. “I mean he’s got some.”
Meaning, mischievous?
“Not that. Maybe, kind of subtlety,’’ Payton said. “There’s times when you send something in and I don’t want it flipped, and it gets flipped and … and … and so, it’s all good. He worked his tail off. And I am that way.’’
The heated exchange occurred after Nix threw a beautiful deep ball to his former Oregon teammate Troy Franklin on third down. Only unlike so many of their successful hookups in college, the catchable Nix throw, perhaps a smidge overthrown, nevertheless went through Franklin’s hands in the end zone. Not a 45-yard touchdown, but an incompletion and punt.
That may not have been the play Payton got on his quarterback back. But that was the chronological sequence. It got so heated, quarterbacks coach Davis Webb stepped in and seemed to be telling Payton to "stop" already, Let it go.
What did Bo think about the comparison to Ferris?
“Yeah, I’ve watched the movie,’’ Nix said. “But I think it’s funny, that literally explains the situation that we’re out there with great competitive intensity and fire. And we can have those conversations and move right back along and score another few touchdowns. It doesn’t bother us.”
Indeed, the argument occurred with the Broncos leading 20-10 late in the third quarter. On the next two possessions, both in the fourth quarter, a fired up Nix finished one by leaping over the top for a 1-yard touchdown and the other by throwing a 9-yard touchdown pass to Josh Reynolds for a 34-10 lead.
